In recent years, jobs have been hard to come by, especially for recent graduates without any experience. This is especially prevalent in a state that has seen unemployment rates rise between 9.7 percent in April and 10.5 percent in September 2011. But, there is one sector that has shown consecutive growth—jobs in renewable energy.

Over the past year jobs in renewable energy have increased by 18 percent in North Carolina, according to N.C. Sustainable Energy Association.

This sector has seen much of its growth coming from Raleigh, with a large influence from the University.

The Office of Sustainability created a fellowship that unites five separate campus or campus-related organizations: Energy Management, the FREEDM Systems Center, Advanced Energy, the North Carolina Solar Center and the University Sustainability Office. The selected fellows of this program have been working on three main projects that impact both Raleigh and North Carolina as a whole.

“Those fellowships were established to give recent graduates real world experience, and to help give them a leg up, and prepare them for the work force,” David Dean, the Outreach and Communications Coordinator for the Offices of Sustainability and Energy, said.

Each program designates two fellows to collaborate on the energy initiatives. As a whole, the 10 fellows work to help create a Centennial Campus Smart Grid, Sustainable Outreach Materials and a clean transportation plan to be enacted across the state. With these measures, the Office of Sustainability is increasing knowledge and giving N.C. State alumni experience in an increasing job market.

The North Carolina Solar Center, located on campus, was originally founded in 1988. The center plays a large role in the creation of jobs and training of continuing education workers. The Solar Center organizes various workshops that provide training in fields such as solar-thermal energy, wind energy, thermal energy, and photo-voltaics, according to Lyra Rakusin, the Workforce Development Specialist with the Solar Center. These workshops last one week, and provide their students with certifications that give them a greater chance at finding jobs.

These workshops are not just for currently unemployed individuals looking to get a foot in the door into the energy business. These courses have proven to be appealing to people looking at “starting a business or already in the business,” according to Rakusin. There have even been employers taking the workshops who go on to hire their classmates, according to Rakusin.

In addition to providing these week-long workshops, the Solar Center also holds a list of 20 companies that “send…job openings when there’s an opening,” according to Maria O’Farrell, the trainings program director.

O’Farrell also manages the Renewable Energy Technologies Diploma Series and the Green Building Diploma Series programs. These programs offer further training and education to professionals already in the field, providing them with networking options, and ways to ensure the sustainability of their product.

Multiple options also exist for fulltime students to get involved in this growing industry. Despite the many technical degrees that are offered, there are routes for those who are less mathematically inclined to obtain a “green job,” according to Dean.

“There’s a great need for policy work within energy as well,” Dean said. He then went on to say that students in disciplines and colleges not traditionally associated with renewable energy, such CHASS students, have important tools to offer in the business of energy and helping to further the development and spread of renewable energy. Dean also commented on how even students within the College of Design can find jobs that help promote a green way of life and doing business, with the college offering programs in architecture, industrial design, and landscape architecture.

As the job market becomes more competitive in North Carolina, the energy sector is continuing to grow. According to Dean, N.C. State offers multiple programs in every college that give both students and working adults opportunities to make themselves more attractive to employers.